2nd disqualification case vs Arroyo filed with Comelec

Senatorial aspirant and Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros on Monday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from running for Congress in the second district of Pampanga next year.

In her four-page petition, Hontiveros said Mrs. Arroyo should also be disqualified for denying her opponents equal opportunity for public service since they would be fighting an incumbent president who has the country’s resources at her disposal.

This, she said, violates the equal protection clause stipulated in Article III Section I of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without protection of the laws."

“Allowing a sitting President to run for office would open a veritable Pandora’s Box and, when interfaced with other existing laws and policies, present fundamental questions of equity," she said.

Hontiveros was the second to challenge Mrs. Arroyo's congressional bid, the first one being lawyer Ely Pamatong, who is running for president in next year's elections.

Malacañang, meanwhile, dismissed Hontiveros' move against Mrs. Arroyo, saying the party-list lawmaker was only seeking media mileage to push for her senatorial candidacy.

“From reports I received, the grounds are hypothetical, speculative and without basis. We will answer if so required by the Comelec. Filing a case is very easy, the hard part of it is proving the grounds," said Presidential Spokesman for Political Matters Romulo Macalintal, a noted election lawyer.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Malacañang welcomes the case, confident that the President’s lawyers would be “ready, willing and able to defend" her. - KBK, GMANews.TV